BJP fears disturbances during elections in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appealed to the Election Commission to deploy additional Central forces at 18 seats going to polls on Monday, apprehending large scale disturbances by the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai, in a letter to the Commission, expressed apprehensions of large scale disturbance by ruling Samajwadi Party during polls on Monday in which SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav is also contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Azamgarh.

He said that complaints of booth capturing have surfaced during last few phases of the election, it has become necessary that the Commission deploys Central forces in large numbers at each booth.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav who is the father of the Chief Minister is also contesting from Azamgarh. The Samajwadi Party in collusion with police, administration and anti-social elements can disturb the polls there, additional observers must be deployed and videography of all the booths must be done to ensure free and fair polls," he said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had also demanded deployment of Central forces during the last leg of the elections. She had said that all the outsiders residing in Varanasi, where BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is contesting, should be moved out of the constituency.

Polling for 18 seats in the crucial last phase of Lok Sabha polls in eastern Uttar Pradesh, to decide the fate of 328 candidates, including Modi, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is underway on Monday.

Over three crore voters, including 1.35 crore women, are expected to exercise their franchise at 19,881 polling centers to decide the fate of various political stalwarts.